Maternity leave is a big issue. The USA government does not support paid parental leave. …show more content…
This issue started when women began balancing work life vs home life. In 1993, the FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) law was written that stated women received only 12 weeks of maternity leave. Currently, the U.S. government says it is up to the employer to provide paid maternity leave. Business organizations claim that payment of maternity benefits do not apply to them. They say it is a financial burden. No one wants to take responsibility to pay for maternity leave. Another issue that needs to be addressed is Gender Pay Inequality. Women all over America are affected by pay inequality. Women earn $0.79 for every dollar earned by men. Women are more likely to leave work for longer periods of time than men which indicates that women are punished for being wage earners and care givers. Women should be paid the same wages as men when they are working. In some states, such as Wyoming, women earn 64 cents for every dollar a man earns, and in Nevada, women get as high as 85 cents. Pay inequality started at the end of WWII when men came back into the work force and has been growing since the 1970s. The AAUW (American Association of University Women) believes pay equality is a matter of